Charley Hull and Bronte Law tee it up for starts of 2024 Aramco Team Series in Florida
This weekend in golf, the US-based LPGA Tour will play in China, while the Ladies European Tour will tee it up at the Saudi-sponsored Aramco Team Series in Florida. As a snapshot of the globalisation of the game and the forces shaping it, it’s a neat one.
The Aramco Team Series event is a wholly international affair, with stars from the LPGA such as Lexi Thompson, Megan Khang and Brittany Lincicome going up against top European players including Charley Hull, Bronte Law and Carlota Ciganda.
As such it is also an appetite whetter for the 2024 Solheim Cup, which is due to take place in Virginia and, after the biennial contest between Europe and the US reverted to even-numbered years, just six months away.
England’s Hull, the world No8, is the highest ranked player among the 84 professionals set to play the first Aramco Team Series event of the season, which is being held at Feather Sound Country Club in Clearwater.
Further dates in the string of $1m tournaments, which comprise individual and team scoring, are slated to take place in Seoul in May, London in July, a yet-unconfirmed Asian location in October and Riyadh in November.
Hull brings with her an enviable track record in the series, having won the individual title in New York in 2021 and finished runner-up in two of the last six tournaments, and strong overall form, with two top-10 finishes already this season.
Fellow countryman Bronte Law is another entrant on a hot streak, having won her third LET title the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco last week. She is another former Aramco Team Series champion, having pipped Hull and Georgia Hall in London in 2022.
“I really struggled last year and have done a lot of work with my mental coach and Ian Woosnam, who is obviously a legend of the game,” said Law. “This proves that when I put the hard work in and when I believe in myself that I can still compete at the very top of my game.”
Their Solheim Cup teammate Carlota Ciganda, individual winner of the Florida leg of the series at West Palm Beach last year, and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, who captained the victorious team, are also back to defend their crowns.
Former amateur No1 Roussin-Bouchard returned from a break to finish second behind Law in Morocco last week. “I needed to put the clubs away for six weeks,” she said. “I had a long off-season and I am being friends with golf again.”
Among the leading home hopes is Thompson, an Aramco Team Series individual title winner in New York less than 18 months ago. The Major winner arrives fresh from taking part in the latest edition of made-for-TV skins game The Match with Rory McIlroy, among others.
Other notable Americans in the field include two-time Major winner Lincicome, who lives nearby and may double up as a spy for US Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis, having been named one of her assistants earlier this year.
“To be able to have other players come see my area and this golf course is going to be a real treat because they’re going to absolutely love it,” Lincicome said. “Being just 30 minutes from my house, I’m looking forward to family and friends coming out to watch and support.”
Organisers of the Aramco Team Series are not missing a trick on International Women’s Day, either. To mark the occasion, women and girls are being given free entry to the tournament on Friday, when they can also take advantage of complimentary golf clinics.
Aramco Team Series schedule 2024
- 8-10 March: Florida, Feather Sound Country Club
- 10-12 May: Seoul, New Korea Country Club
- 3-5 July: London, Centurion Club
- 4-6 October: Asia, Venue TBC
- 1-3 November: Riyadh, Riyadh Golf Club